I LOVE THEM. I WANT TO HAVE THEIR 6-WAY BABIES. ESPECIALLY ALI BECAUSE SHE ROCKS OUT SO HARD IN THE VIDEOS! Also she’s the unicorn so of course she’s my favorite!!!
Okay, now that that’s out of my system. I don’t know if, in a year, the Black Kids are going to be my favorite band. Will they ever beat the Decemberists? Probably not. But GODDAMN are they fighting hard. I don’t usually dig buzz bands – they never really live up to the, well, buzz. And the first time I ever heard the Black Kids, I don’t even remember if I liked them. But in the eight months and nine days since I first heard them, the Black Kids have become pretty much my favorite band. For right now, at least. An LA Times piece about Conor Oberst’s new solo record postulates (I like that word) that the music you listen to between 18 and 22 is the music that means the most to you for the rest of your life. I don’t know if I definitely agree with that, because I’m not that far out of that age range – and I don’t think the author of the piece is either. He had Fevers and Mirrors on his iPod; he’s not old enough to say that the music he listened to then means the most to him. I hope he’s wrong because there’s so much great stuff that has come out since I graduated college. I’m pretty sure that, assuming the author at the LA Times is wrong (and I am assuming he’s wrong), I totally hope that the Black Kids are one of the bands that stays with me forever.
The first time I heard the Black Kids was New Year’s Eve, when I saw them play a show that I literally do not remember at all. I had never heard them before. I was interested in seeing them for two reasons: it was something to do, and the show had been sold out for weeks. I love a challenge. Unfortunately, I also love binge drinking, but that’s a whole post unto itself. It being a New Years show, I spent the early evening warming up with cheap champagne, before going on to the main event of even more cheap champagne. I’m left mostly with memories of the opening band (who was, sorry dudes, awful), and random flashes of dancing with a girl I met in the bathroom.
Some time later, the friend who originally wanted to see them got their EP, Wizard of Ahhhs. It should really be called Wizard of Ahhhhhhh-some. Because it’s awesome! “I’m Not Going to Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You” is kind of their big hit, only not in America because our charts are too full of the Jonas Brothers (I don’t even know who they are except that they’re always all over ONTD) and Katy Perry (who needs to shut up SO BAD). It’s a pretty great song, and a totally dece video.
All the reviews and stuff talk about how they’re a lo-fi version of the Cure. I can sort of hear it, but I totally disagree. I don’t think they’re ever going to have the influence that the Cure did, if only because their name is totally off-putting to people. I saw the Black Kids at Lollapalooza this year, and found out later that a friend of mine was able to successfully sneak in using an abandoned wristband (why someone would leave their wristband on the ground at 3:00 on Sunday is beyond me, but it got my friend in so who cares!). When I got all excited and asked if he saw the Black Kids, he looked shocked and couldn’t believe I said that. I had to explain, “No dude! It’s a band!” I also don’t want them to be as big as the Cure because I want them to be mine forever
“Hurricane Jane” is one of my favorite songs because even though you can’t dance to it the way you can to a lot of their songs, the lyrics are some of my favorites. They’re so poignant and they really speak to me in the way I currently live my life.
They opened for Kate Nash, who I am moderately in love with.
A few weeks ago, the Black Kids released their first full-length stateside. I think it had been out earlier in England, if not all of Europe. It’s amazing. Obviously. But it is. It’s a bit more produced than their EP, and I do prefer the tracks from the EP to the same songs that were redone for the album. But “Hit the Heartbreaks” is one of the best opening tracks ever, I think, and “Partie Traumatic,” the title track, is one of my very favorite songs. “Look at Me (When I Rock Wichoo)” is kind of the bomb. When I listen to it, I just want to have a dance party on the spot. The only thing that disappoints me about the album is that it’s on Columbia, so I’m afraid that it won’t sell well and they’ll get dropped and fade into obscurity for 8 years a la Harvey Danger. They’re nothing like Harvey Danger, for the record, it’s just that I like Harvey Danger too, and that happened to them.
Anyway, I highly suggest you go out and make purchase of Partie Traumatic, which is currently available at all fine retailers. I totally saw it at Target today. But you should go to your nearest locally-owned, independent record store and buy it there. It’ll make you look cooler, for real. But if you want to be a total asshole and not just take my word for it, I think someone put all the songs up on Youtube, so you can just search for the Black Kids.
